Strike tent coming down

The 30 below zero temperatures are over and striking nurses don't need their tent for warmth anymore - so will it stay put?

Teamsters lawyer Ted Iorio met Monday with Petoskey city manager George Korthauer and city attorney Bridget Brown Powers, to discuss the tent and whether or not it should go.

"It was a good discussion," Iorio said. "The city is interested in having the tent removed to resurface the park, and we're trying to work it out in an amicable fashion."

According to Petoskey's director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Al Hansen, paths have been grooved in the park and maintenance needs to be done.

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"We want to restore the park for the general public," Hansen said. "We're sure there's damage under the tent."

He said like anyone else using the park and causing damage, the Teamsters will have to pay for any damage they've caused.

Hansen, who made the verbal contract with the Teamsters when the strike began to put the tent in the park, said the city understood the nurses needed shelter and heat.

"At the time, we thought it was going to be a short strike," he said. "They had two options - there and Magnus Park, where they would have had to rent space. They chose that place, and now they don't need the shelter and heat anymore."

Korthauer and Brown Powers were not available for comment on Monday's meeting at press time.

Iorio said Korthauer has been "decent" with the Teamsters, and was sending Iorio ordinances for his review Tuesday morning.

"I'm going to talk to my clients today regarding it," he said. "Petoskey doesn't need any more disputes, and the nurses recognize that. Even though the tent has been a symbol for them, we're working it out with or without the tent."

He noted that the striking nurses would still be allowed to utilize the park for their pickets.

"We can do whatever we want; it's summertime," he said. "We're going to be out picketing and we're going to be out in the park."

The issue of the tent was raised at Saturday's Teamster rally, at which Iorio said he was concerned that Petoskey's mayor hadn't stepped into the strike situation except to complain about the tent.

Mayor Kate Marshall said she's never taken issue with the tent, and it's not up to her or the city council whether or not the tent stays.

"The decision to allow the union to use the property was handled administratively," she said. "It has never been before the council, and the decision or way in which it would come down has been handled administratively. It is not appropriate for us to decide this matter, and I as the mayor have no authority to make that decision."

Marshall added that she's never spoke in favor or against the strike.

"Despite the fact that I've had numerous calls, and have been threatened in terms of repercussions for my business, I am not moved to take a position on the strike," she said. "The nurses are totally within their rights to strike, and the hospital is within its rights to take the actions it is taking. The council is not a party to their struggle, nor have we ever been."

Marshall, who is an owner of American Spoon Foods, said along with picketing outside of her business, she's gotten threats from the Teamsters.

"I recognize that the union has the right to boycott," she said. "The problem is when you call and make a threat. They've called and said, 'If you do not make sure the tent stays up, and if you do not get involved in the strike, we will boycott your business.'

"They have the right to do that, but when they threaten me, it's crossing a line that I just will not accept."

Iorio denied that the Teamsters had any involvement in the call.

"We didn't authorize that. We can't control people, whoever they might be, making threats like that," he said. "Anybody could be unhappy with her because of some other issue. She's going to right away say it's the union, and that's ridiculous."